Three Hours Before Your Flight...

[Mike Taylor]

... is NOT the time to come rushing in looking for a spare battery for your seven year-old Nikon DSLR camera. Being pushy, obnoxious and rude when there's very clearly three customers for every associate in the Digital Imaging department also doesn't help. Oh, and being snippish and short with me after I pull myself away from a $1500 sale to try to find your $50 obsolete lump of nickel metal hydride doesn't endear me to you. (I told the lady to back off the hostility. I get a snappish "Excuuuuse ME!")

Seriously, why do people not buy these things AHEAD OF TIME and have them ready to go? It's called PLANNING!

Thankfully, I'm on vacation for the next week and a half.

[Mytical]

"Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".

As for preplanning that requires a bit more intelligence then a rock has..and we all know SC's are not as intelligent as a rock.

[Mike Taylor]

Thankfully, my $1500 customers were very nice and understanding. I'd worked with them the previous week when things weren't so hectic.

[NateTheChops]

As for preplanning that requires a bit more intelligence then a rock has..and we all know SC's are not as intelligent as a rock.

They're not as light as a duck either, which many of them should remember as they aren't always going to be surrounded by witnesses and cameras when they get snippish with someone.

I do like how the people spending more money were more understanding and patient.

[PepperElf]

Exactly. it's not the employee's fault - or responsibility to deal with - the fact that the customer chose to do this so close to the flight.


hell as a professional-grade photographer my bf usually has spares. then again he's also big on planning ahead.

[telecom_goddess]

Wow I would like to think a Nikon anything isn't truly obsolete, says the owner of a Nikon D50 that still works great and has an excellent battery.

[PepperElf]

Wow I would like to think a Nikon anything isn't truly obsolete, says the owner of a Nikon D50 that still works great and has an excellent battery.

Exactly. Those are nowhere near obsolete. AND if you chose to get another one... o look your lenses will fit!

My bf still has - and uses - his D40 even though he has never flashier models. The battery lasts forfuckingever and can get shutter speeds that newer models can't get - cos the camera has an electric shutter, not a physical one.

[Reyneth]

Exactly. Those are nowhere near obsolete. AND if you chose to get another one... o look your lenses will fit!

My bf still has - and uses - his D40 even though he has never flashier models. The battery lasts forfuckingever and can get shutter speeds that newer models can't get - cos the camera has an electric shutter, not a physical one.

Nikon D2h here (although I got money from my grandma's estate and I'm eying the D4!) and I have TWO batteries. Every camera I have has always had TWO batteries or spare for the non-rechargable ones. sheesh. Even the batteries that are more than $100 each. I would have ignored bossy lady.

[Merriweather]

I can see thinking weeks before a vacation "I ought to get a spare battery so I can take more photos in between chargings". And I can see zoning out in all the trip planning, and forgetting to do that. It happens to the best of us - I'm normally super organized on my trip planning, yet forgot to check out my rarely used camcorder til the night before, and found I was missing a cable to recharge the battery.

And I can see stopping at the shop on their way to the airport to see if they might get lucky and grab a spare battery quickly & easily. That said, absolutely no excuse to be an SC. No matter what the circumstances or reasons they forgot, it's still their fault, not the fault of the other cutomers there ahead of them, not the fault of the store staff, but theirs and theirs alone.

Besides, who wants to bet they were flying into another major city where they could get a spare battery anyway?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Two words for this tard: The internet.

Pull up Google or the search engine of your choice. Type in "(model of camera) battery." Browse results.

She'll probably have to pay tax and shipping and handling, but that's a small price to pay to not have to hit up every electronics store on the way to the airport looking for a battery they probably don't carry anyway, don'tcha think?

[MoonCat]

Besides, who wants to bet they were flying into another major city where they could get a spare battery anyway?

That's what I was thinking. Where's she going, the Amazon?

[Mike Taylor]

Wow I would like to think a Nikon anything isn't truly obsolete, says the owner of a Nikon D50 that still works great and has an excellent battery.

Oh, the lenses are great and the camera bodies are well made, too! It's just that the battery she was looking for (EN-EL3e) isn't used by any of the currently manufactured crop of Nikons. The last model to use it was the D90, which has been discontinued.

[auntiem]

Ok granted I'm "old school" and still travel with a film camera ($12 battery at worst). But $50 for a battery - at the last minute no less - seriously?! are they going on a swimsuit model shoot - can't they just make do with *gasp* the point and shoot film cameras? They have those everywhere I've ever traveled for approx. $12 bucks a piece - at the airport past security included. Granted, they can't take tons of shots (24 - 36 each), but really - how many photos do you need? (and yes, the desposables have no special lenses - but if you have any talent you can take excellent photos with the worst of cameras)

I'm not slamming digi cameras at all - one day I may get one, but they just don't have that "back from vacay - let's see how the photos turned out!" feel - which, to me is half the fun.

OP - I'm so glad your other clients were understanding.

[Mike Taylor]

Well, these are batteries that are meant to have a fairly long overall lifespan. A single charge for a battery is typically 200-400 photos nowadays, but their overall lifespan can vary depending on how heavily they're used. The casual camera user might get several years of use out of one battery whereas a professional photographer might burn one out in several months.

[EricKei]

I'm afraid the only Nikon product that's ever been in my house was a licensed mug they made that was designed to look *exactly* like one of their more well-known lenses -- right down to the markings on the side -- until you unscrewed the mug's cap ^_^ Got it for a shutterbug friend as a present.